Former President Donald Trump has had another hush money arrangement to try to avoid getting held civilly or criminally responsible for anything related to the Trump Organization, reported The Daily Beast — this time, with his family's longtime former CFO Allen Weisselberg.
Weisselberg, according to the report from Michael Daly, "signed a $2 million separation agreement with the Trump Organization as he began a five-month jail term for tax evasion in January 2023. The agreement called for eight payments between March 31, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024. Five have been made, so Trump is still on the hook for three more. In return, Weisselberg agreed not to 'induce, encourage, instigate, aid, abet or otherwise cause any other person entity to bring or file a complaint, charge, lawsuit or other proceeding' against Trump or anyone associated with his company."
This arrangement, which according to the report is completely legal, effectively means Trump is buying one of his former employees' silence in his financial proceedings — which includes a case about him unlawfully trying to conceal payments to buy an adult film star's silence.
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While the arrangement itself wasn't illegal, Weisselberg himself has admitted to breaking the law in order to honor it in the civil fraud trial brought by Attorney General Letitia James. In that trial, where Trump was accused of systematically manipulating the value of his properties to reduce his tax liabilities and interest payments to banks, Weisselberg admitted to perjuring himself when he said he was unaware of Trump's assessment of Trump Tower square footage.
This marks the second time Weisselberg, who has worked as the Trump family's top accountant since before Trump himself even took over the business, has gone to jail in connection with his dealings with the former president.
"The 74-year-old Weisselberg remained hushed in an 11-by-13 foot cell in the West Facility at Rikers Island yesterday morning as Trump set off from the 11,000-square-foot penthouse he tried to pass off in loan negotiations as a mere 31,000 square feet," noted Daly. "Trump descended from a residence that is on the 58th floor of Trump Tower — not the 68th, as he has claimed — and arrived by motorcade for the start of jury selection."
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